In the wink of an eye, the most awaited event of the year has come and gone. It is already the day after Christmas but the joy that goes with the occasion has not yet fully sunk deep in the hearts of many as to be truly felt. How hard it is indeed to say “Merry Christmas” and “Happy holidays” amidst the numerous calamities that devastated our country and brought so much grief and pain to our brethren particularly in Northern Mindanao and Negros. Harder yet is to enjoy partying while most of our countrymen continue to suffer not only the tragic loss of lives and properties but also the harshness of living in poverty and want.
On the other hand maybe the joy of Christmas continue to elude us because we associate it with the purely material aspect of the occasion brought about by too much commercialism in its celebration that caters only to sheer physical emotion. Maybe it continues to elude us because we are more swayed by the modern ways of celebrating the event where Santa Claus and his reindeers have replaced the Belen or the Nativity scene as the more popular Christmas décor; where children look up to a fictional figure of a roly-poly man in red and white costume than the Baby Jesus in the Manger granting their Christmas wishes; where more stories are woven around the magical voyage of jolly good old Santa with bag full of toys than the arduous trek of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem where they could not even find a room in an inn; and where “Jingle Bells” has replaced “Joy to the World” as the favorite Christmas Carol.
Of course there are also some practices with modern trappings which can serve as symbols of the deeper and real meaning of Christmas if properly appreciated. These are the putting up of Christmas lights, the giving and sharing of gifts and the “Noche Buena”.
The Christmas lights symbolize Christ and His presence in this world since two thousand eleven (2011) years ago when the “people who live in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:1). It does not matter much whether the lights are as glittering and multi-colored as the lights in Las Vegas like the ones now dotting urban parks, streets and homes, or mere candles or simple parols flickering in a dark countryside. What is important is they are seen as the Christ who is the light of the world.
Giving Christmas gifts on the other hand is a meaningful sign of love on this occasion — the love of God in sending His only begotten Son who shows us how we can share eternal life of bliss with Him after our worldly existence. Christ has shown that more important than the value of the gift is the intention to share our blessings not only with the people close to us but more especially with the least of our brethren. Giving gifts to the poor and sending aid to the victims of the recent calamities or simply helping in the relief operations are perfect examples of this kind of love shown to us by God on Christmas day.
There is also nothing wrong with feasting and partying at Christmastime if they are done to symbolize our love and acceptance of one another as we break bread together especially the “Noche Buena” which is a beautiful custom of celebrating love within the family. This is a tried and tested practice of keeping the family together and strengthening family solidarity and should therefore be also preserved from the onslaught of materialism.
But of course the most important tradition that we should preserve is the giving of a birthday gift to the celebrant. Christmas is the birthday of Jesus so we have to give him something for the occasion. Unlike the usual birthday gifts that comes in beautifully wrapped packages we should offer Him something to reciprocate the love He has shown when He came down into this world to redeem us and show us the way to life everlasting. These gifts call for transformation in our life as Filipinos and thus require some time and effort.
The first of these gifts is getting rid of our crab mentality, our lack of discipline and our “kanya-kanya” attitude. Envy and greed still predominate our way of life as we continue to place our self interests over and above the common good. We should try to suppress the urge to accumulate more than we need just to satisfy our insatiable wants, in order to have a more equitable distribution of the country’s wealth and resources.
Another significant gift to Jesus on his birthday is the revival of the precious heritage left by our ancestors, the noble and edifying values that make us spiritually strong and morally upright particularly love of God and country, respect and obedience to our elders and to those in authority, the sense of delicadeza, humility, simplicity, integrity, industry, frugality and the courage to stand up for truth and justice.
Then Jesus would surely want as Christmas gift the reformation of our politics by getting rid of politicians who promote their own interest and engage in unprincipled practices as they try to hold on to power at all cost and wield influence over the electorate through patronage, money, machinery, popularity and name recall. Jesus will surely be happy to see our country and people lifted up from the throes of politics where qualified people are denied access to opportunity for public service because public office has become an expensive commodity in which the return on investment comes from the filthy lucre acquired through graft and corruption.
Of course Jesus also want as Christmas gift that media refrain from giving undue publicity to negative events, scandalous happenings, immoral acts, unverified, ugly rumors and celluloid exploits which glamorize ignoble and trivial matters and make celebrities out of scoundrels enough for them to win in our elections because of popularity and name recall.
Finally another ideal gift to Jesus is the reformation in the conduct of our business where the primary and sometimes only motive is profit and more profit. Jesus will surely be happy on his birthday if our businessmen will develop a social conscience by not treating their employees and workers as mere objects for the production of their goods and services, but as human beings entitled to share in their surplus earnings.
Admittedly, these are ideal gifts that will take time to wrap up and would need the helping hand of Jesus Himself. But with lots of prayers on our part, we could eventually present all of them to Him wrapped in beautiful packages.
A BLESSED AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ONE AND ALL!